Preparation of thin film transistors (TFTs) or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or other printable electronics using ink-jet printer and carbon nanotube inks

ABSTRACT

The invented ink-jet printing method for the construction of thin film transistors using all SWNTs on flexible plastic films is a new process. This method is more practical than all of existing printing methods in the construction TFT and RFID tags because SWNTs have superior properties of both electrical and mechanical over organic conducting oligomers and polymers which often used for TFT. Furthermore, this method can be applied on thin films such as paper and plastic films while silicon based techniques can not used on such flexible films. These are superior to the traditional conducting polymers used in printable devices since they need no dopant and they are more stable. They could be used in conjunction with conducting polymers, or as stand-alone inks.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and benefit of U.S. ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 60/739,666, filed on Nov. 23, 2005, entitled:PREPARATION OF THIN FILM TRANSISTORS (TFTs) OR RADIO FREQUENCYIDENTIFICATION (RFID) TAGS OR OTHER PRINTABLE ELECTRONICS USING INK-JETPRINTER AND CARBON NANOTUBE INKS, by inventor Gyou-Jin Cho, et al. Thepresent application further claims priority to and benefit of U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/775,060, filed on Feb. 21, 2006,entitled: PREPARATION OF THIN FILM TRANSISTORS (TFTs) OR RADIO FREQUENCYIDENTIFICATION (RFID) TAGS OR OTHER PRINTABLE ELECTRONICS USING INK-JETPRINTER AND CARBON NANOTUBE INKS, by inventor Gyou-Jin Cho, et al. Theaforementioned provisional applications are hereby incorporated hereinby reference.

FEDERALLY-SPONSORED RESEARCH

This invention was made, in part, with support from the Office of NavalResearch, Grant No. N00014-04-1-0765. The U.S. Government has certainrights in the invention.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to printable electronics, moreparticularly to printable electronics made using ink jet printers andcarbon nanotube inks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As the demand for ubiquitous electronics is largely consumer driven, insome fields factors such as disposability, low cost and massive marketapplications are tending to become more important than ultrapowerfulmicroelectronic devices. Therefore, macroelectronic devices that arelight, inexpensive, flexible, disposable, and minimally sufficient toexecute the simple task at hand are in high demand. Inexpensive radiofrequency identification tags, flexible displays, disposable cell phonesand e-papers are among the potential applications of such devices. Tomake practical use of these applications, it is desirable that theircomponents are prepared using simple and inexpensive means that do notrequire using high vacuum deposition or photolithography facilities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invented ink-jet printing method for the construction of thin filmtransistors using all SWNTs on flexible plastic films is a new process.This method is more practical than all of exiting printing methods inthe construction TFT and RFID tags because SWNTs have superiorproperties of both electrical and mechanical over organic conductingoligomers and polymers which often used for TFT. Furthermore, thismethod can be applied on thin films such as paper and plastic filmswhile silicon based techniques can not used on such flexible films.These are superior to the traditional conducting polymers used inprintable devices since they need no dopant and they are more stable.They could be used in conjunction with conducting polymers, or asstand-alone inks.

According to some embodiments, a process for making thin film (TF)electronic devices comprising the steps of: using an ink jet printermechanism to print electronic device patterns on a substrate as acomposite ink mixture of metallic carbon nanotubes (m-NTs) andsemiconductor carbon nanotubes (s-NTs), wherein the m-NTs are active anddominate the characteristics of the composite ink mixture in any of theelectronic device patterns designated as a conductor patterns;de-activating a portion of the m-NTs in any of the electronic devicepatterns designated as resistive device patterns; and de-activatingsubstantially all of the m-NTs in any of the electronic patternsdesignated as semiconducting device patterns.

According to some embodiments, a thin film electronic circuit, comprisesa circuit formed on a substrate to have a pre-determined functionalityrequiring conductors interconnecting a plurality of resistive devices,capacitive devices, inductive devices, and active semiconductor devices,wherein the conductors, the resistive devices, the capacitive devices,the inductive devices, and the active semiconductor devices are formedat least in part by the process of: using an ink jet printer mechanismto print electronic device patterns, on a substrate, as a composite inkmixture of metallic carbon nanotubes (m-NTs) and semiconductor carbonnanotubes (s-NTs), wherein the m-NTs are active and dominate thecharacteristics of the composite ink mixture in any of the electronicdevice patterns designated as the conductors; de-activating a portion ofthe m-NTs of the composite ink mixture in any of the electronic devicepatterns designated as the resistive devices; and de-activatingsubstantially all of the m-NTs of the composite ink mixture in any ofthe electronic patterns designated as a semiconducting portion of theactive semiconductor devices.

According to some embodiments, a thin film transistor (TFT) comprises: achannel fabricated as a first layer of a composite ink mixture ofmetallic carbon nanotubes (m-NTs) and semiconductor carbon nanotubes(s-NTs) applied to a substrate, wherein the m-NTs dominate thecharacteristics of the composite ink mixture and are de-activatedin-situ to render the channel a semiconductor channel layer; a gate areafabricated by applying a dielectric layer over a portion of thesemiconductor channel layer while exposing a source area and a drainarea on the semiconductor channel layer; and a gate electrode, a sourceelectrode and a drain electrode fabricated as electrode layers of thecomposite ink mixture applied to the gate area, the source area, and thedrain area, wherein the m-NTs of the composite ink mixture of theelectrode layers are not de-activated thus rendering the electrodelayers of the composite ink mixture substantially conductive, wherein aconductivity of the channel is modulated in response to voltage appliedto the gate electrode.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of a number of embodiments of the present invention in orderthat the detailed description of the present invention that follows maybe better understood. Additional features and advantages of theinvention will be described hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic of an exemplary process of fabricating SWNTTFTs using a commercial ink-jet printer for the electrode and activelayer printing;

FIG. 2 shows I-V characteristics of a printed all-SWNT-TFT;

FIG. 3 shows transfer characteristics a printed all-SWNT-TFT at V_(DS)of −20 V;

FIG. 4 depicts a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag layout, inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 schematically depicts a printing sequence for the fabrication ofa 5-stage ring oscillator, the role of which is depicted in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 depicts the construction of memory using FET and floating gatetransistor;

FIG. 7 illustrates the I-V characteristics of a SWNT-diode where line Bshows results for 2^(nd) printing of SWNT; line C shows results for the3^(rd) printing of SWNT; and line D shows results for the 4^(th)printing of SWNT; and

FIG. 8 is a TEM image of polystyrene wrapped SWNT.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invented ink-jet printing methods described herein for theconstruction of thin film transistors (TFTs) and radio-frequencyidentification (RFID) tags, using entirely single-walled carbonnanotubes (SWNTs) on flexible plastic films, is a new process. Themethods of the present invention are more practical than prior artprinting methods in the construction of TFTs and RFID tags because SWNTshave superior electrical and mechanical properties over organicconducting oligomers and polymers—which are often used for TFTs.Furthermore, this method can be applied on thin films such as paper andplastic films while silicon-based techniques cannot be used on suchflexible films. These are superior to the traditional conductingpolymers used in printable devices since they need no dopant and theyare more stable. They could be used in conjunction with conductingpolymers, or as stand-alone inks.

Ink-jet printing methods have been used previously to construct TFTswith poor performance (<0.06 cm²/Vs) from conducting and semiconductingpolymer solutions. However, there are no reports of TFTs printed usingall-SWNTs on flexible plastic substrates. Here, we used an inexpensivecommercially available inkjet printer (HP Deskjet 3845) to print TFTscontaining SWNTs on 3M transparency film (CG3460) with precise controlover the density and position. The major reason for using the commercialink-jet printer and flexible plastic films is to show how SWNTs arerobust and give consistent values for printed devices under ambientconditions.

While efforts have been made to print carbon nanotube-based films foruse in TFTs or other electronic devices, such efforts possess manylimitations. See, e.g., Hur et al., “Nanotransfer printing by use ofnoncovalent surface forces: Applications to thin-film transistors thatuse single-walled carbon nanotube networks and semiconducting polymers,”Appl. Phys. Lett., 2004, 85, 5730-5732; Lefenfeld et al.,“High-Performance Contacts in Plastic Transistors and Logic Gates ThatUse Printed Electrodes of DNNSA-PANI Doped with Single-Walled CarbonNanotubes,” Adv. Mater., 2003, 15, 1188-1191; Hines et al.,“Nanotransfer printing of organic and carbon nanotube thin-filmtransistors on plastic substrates,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 2005, 86, 163101;Blanchet et al., “Polyaniline nanotube composites: A high-resolutionprintable conductor,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 2003, 82, 1290-1292; and Meitlet al., “Solution Casting and Trasfer Printing Single-Walled CarbonNanotube Films,” Nano Lett., 2004, 4, 1643-1647.

With regard to the present invention, the unique aspect about thetechnique described herein is the deactivation (lowering of theconductivity) of the metallic SWNTs by functionalization of the mixedSWNT samples. By employing such deactivation, none of the functionalizedSWNTs need to be removed from the sample. They can be left in thesample. The semiconductor tubes then dominate the properties of theactive (semiconductive) layers. It may be that the functionalization ofthe metallics causes them to become poor conductors or themselvessemiconductors; regardless of their properties, as long as the metallicslose their metallic character, the overall sample is useful as theactive layer. None of the other above-cited published works covalentlyfunctionalize the SWNTs in order to modulate their conductive propertiesand thereby render them useful as active layers.

We detail herein new ways to address the obstacles involved in using acombination of SWNT inks and an ink-jet method. (Herein, the prefix “m”denotes metallic in conductive properties, and the prefix “s” denotessemiconducting in conductive properties, and that which is applied toTFTs could likewise be applied to RFID tags and other printablestructures). In principle, if we could make pure m-SWNTs and pures-SWNTs, we could use m-SWNT to fabricate the electrodes (i.e., source,drain and/or gate) of the TFTs and s-SWNTs to fabricate the active layer(semiconductive layer between the source-drain and above the dielectriclayer) of the TFTs. Note that we have also made dielectric layers fromheavily fluorine-functionalized SWNTs, but they were unstable, hence weuse more conventional dielectrics, such as PMMA for that layer. SinceSWNTs in general are known to have a strong affinity for plasticsurfaces and for other SWNTs, printed coatings containing either m-SWNTsor s-SWNTs should adhere both to the substrate and to each other.However, methods for reliably producing or segregating pure m-SWNTs froms-SWNTs have yet to be developed. Hence, in this work we used the nativemixture of SWNTs (mixture of the metallic and semiconductors wherein themetallic dominate the behavior) for the electrodes and a productenriched in s-SWNTs (ps-SWNTs), prepared by selective functionalization(see, e.g., Dyke, C. A.; Stewart, M. P.; Tour, J. M. “Separation ofSingle-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Silica Gel. Materials Morphology andRaman Excitation Wavelength Affect Data Interpretation,” J. Am. Chem.Soc. 2005, 127, 4497-4509; Hudson, J. L.; Casavant, M. J.; Tour, J. M.“Water-Soluble, Exfoliated, Nonroping Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes,” J.Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 11158-11159; Dyke, C. A.; Tour, J. M. “FeatureArticle: Covalent Functionalization of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubesfor Materials Applications,” J. Phys. Chem. A. 2004, 108, 11151-11159;Strano, M. S.; Dyke, C. A.; Usrey, M. L.; Barone, P. W.; Allen, M. J.;Shan, H.; Kittrell, C.; Hauge, R. H.; Tour, J. M.; Smalley, R. E.“Electronic Structure Control of Single Walled Carbon NanotubeFunctionalization,” Science 2003, 301, 1519-1522) for the active layer.Finally, unlike typical conducting polymers, SWNTs are inherentlyconductive and require no dopants.

In an exemplary embodiment, for the fabrication of electrodes of a TFT,0.37 g of crude SWNT bundles (HiPco) are dispersed in 1 L of water/SDS(10 g) using an ultrasonic homogenizer (Polyscience X-520, 750-Watt) for1 h; then to 20 mL of the dispersion is added 2 mL decanol (water todecanol 10:1 ratio), and the decanol is mixed with the dispersed SWNTbundles under sonication for 30 min using an ultrasonic cleaner(Cole-Parmer: B3-R). The resulting mixtures are filtered (cotton-packedcolumn) to remove aggregated SWNTs, and the filtrate is used as aconducting ink. The gate electrodes are printed on the transparent filmby using the ink-jet printer with the cartridge refilled by the preparedSWNTs ink. To attain the lowest surface resistance for printedelectrodes, the deposition cycle (printing, drying, and washing withethanol to remove the surfactant and decanol) is repeated 10 times. Theprinted gate electrodes have a surface resistance of 4 KΩ/sq, which isthe lowest surface resistance obtained with given SWNTs and our printingsystem. As shown in atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the gateelectrode, SWNT bundles are well-packed and well-adhered on the surfaceso that it is difficult to remove even by the Scotch™ tape test.

The gate dielectric layer is then coated on the gate using a solutioncontaining 1 g of poly(methyl methacrylate) (M_(w) 120,000) in 10 mL of2-butanone and a bar coater. The PMMA-coated film is annealed for 2 h at110-120° C. under ambient conditions and then the drain and sourceelectrodes are printed on the film using the same conducting SWNTs inkand same printing cycles (10 times). Since our printing system has amaximum resolution of 300 μm, the channel length of the all-SWNT-TFTsare printed at 800 μm to prevent a short between the drain and sourceelectrodes. The surface resistance of the printed drain, source, andgate electrodes are approximately equivalent.

For the deposition of ps-SWNTs as the active layer, we first prepareps-SWNTs by selectively reacting the m-SWNTs from an aqueous dispersionof individual SWNTs (crude HiPco, 0.07 g/L). Since the HiPco processaffords samples containing ca. 50 different tube types with ca. onethird of m-SWNT and two thirds of s-SWNT, we need to enrich s-SWNT fromthe solution through the selective deactivation of m-SWNT. Since wepreviously showed the p-nitrobenzenediazonium tetrafluoroborate canpreferentially react with m-SWNTs, we can deactivate them to some degreevia the surface functionalization reaction. When functionalized, them-SWNTs are assumed to be poor conductors. The selectivefunctionalization of m-SWNT is monitored by UV/vis/NIR to confirm thereduction of intensity for van Hove singularities.

The solution of ps-SWNT is formulated with water/decanol as before. Theactive layer, with a width of 2600 μm and channel length of 800 μm, isprinted 5 times following the same printing cycles (printing, drying,and washing with ethanol to remove surfactant and decanol) as theelectrodes except using the ps-SWNT ink.

All electrical measurements for printed SWNT-TFT are carried out underambient conditions using a semiconductor parameter analyzer (Agilent4155C).

The methods of the present invention can be directly used in the fieldof inexpensive plastic radio frequency identification (RFID) tags aswell as TFTs. By employing such methods, the cost of each RFID tag canbe reduced to 1 cent or less because passivation processes andlithographic methods are not required. Furthermore, if the on-off ratioof printed TFT using the invented method could be improved up to 10⁶,this method will be applied to construct macroelectronic devices such ase-paper, organic light emitting display, and disposable cellular phone.

We used an inexpensive commercially available inkjet printer (HP Deskjet3845) to print TFTs containing SWNTs on 3M transparency film (CG3460)with precise control over the density and position. The major reason forusing the commercial ink-jet printer and flexible plastic films is toshow how SWNTs are robust and give consistent values for printed devicesunder ambient conditions. A higher quality printer would permit finerstructures.

This invention has advantages of very high mobility of 296 cm²V⁻¹s⁻¹with a transconductance of 49.3 μS which would not be attained usingexisting printing methods. Furthermore, TFTs printed using this methodhave stable electrical properties under ambient condition without anypassivation because SWNTs do not need dopants to show desired electricalproperties.

The underscoring novelty is in the use of SWNTs for both the electrodesand the active layers by simply taking the bulk SWNTs and either usingthem directly for the electrodes (but as soluble species insurfactant-wrapped form) or the ps-SWNTs which are enriched insemiconductors (metallics having been suppressed by functionalization)in alcohol- or water soluble forms (such as aryl sulfonic acids oraryldicarboxylic acid functionalized SWNTs).

The low on-off ratio of printed TFT is the only disadvantage of usingthe invented method. However, the disadvantage can be overcome by usingpurer semiconducting SWNTs in the active layer where much more of themetallics have been rendered non-metallic by functionalization.

In terms of variations, the printed TFTs using the invented method canhave two different structures such as top active layer or topsource-drain structures. In addition, SWNT electrodes can be replaced bymetals, and semiconductors as the active layer can be changed toconducting oligomers or polymers. Finally, while the discussion hereinhas focused on SWNTs, such methods could be modified to utilize othertypes of carbon nanotubes instead of, or in addition to, SWNTs. Suitableother types of carbon nanotubes include, but are not limited to,multi-wall carbon nanotubes, double-wall carbon nanotubes,small-diameter (<3 nm) carbon nanotubes, and combinations thereof. Also,wrapping nanotubes in nonionic surfactants, such as pluronics, can causethem to act as excellent inks in this process. Finally, Applicants haverecently found that polyethylene glycol can be added to the SWNT inks toserve as an excellent co-additive for the uniform inking of substrateswith pristine or functionalized SWNT solutions.

The following examples are included to demonstrate particularembodiments of the present invention. It should be appreciated by thoseof skill in the art that the methods disclosed in the examples thatfollow merely represent exemplary embodiments of the present invention.However, those of skill in the art should, in light of the presentdisclosure, appreciate that many changes can be made in the specificembodiments described and still obtain a like or similar result withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

EXAMPLES Example 1 SWNT TFT

This example illustrates TFT results wherein very high mobilities wereobtained. The results contained in this example were reported inAppendix A of the priority documents, U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 60/739,666 U. S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/775,060. Theaforementioned Appendix A is a reproduction of a manuscript pre-print.This manuscript preprint has not been published.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic of an exemplary process of fabricating SWNTTFTs using a commercial ink-jet printer for the electrode and activelayer printing. The electrodes are SWNT bundles of m-SWNTs and s-SWNTs.The active layer is made from ps-SWNTs obtained using functionalizationprocedures. Gate dielectric layers are coated on printed gate electrodesusing a bar coater.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic of an exemplary process of fabricating SWNTTFTs using a commercial ink-jet printer for the electrode and activelayer printing. FIG. 2 shows I-V characteristics of a printedall-SWNT-TFT FIG. 3 shows the corresponding transfer characteristics atV_(DS) of −20 V.

Example 2 Prophetic Example—RFID Tag

Regarding RFID tags, FIG. 4 illustrates the layout of an exemplarymulti-component RFID tag, where one component is a modulator (5), themodulator comprising a ring oscillator, and another component is memory(4) (see, e.g., FIG. 6). In some embodiments, the ring oscillator isfabricated by printing layers, as shown in FIG. 5, where a layer ofgates and associated wires, all of SWNT bundles, are printed on asubstrate, as shown in Step (a); an insulating layer (e.g., PMMA) isdeposited, as shown in Step (b); a source and drain layer, together withthe associated wiring, all of bundled SWNTs, is put down (i.e., printed)on the insulating layer, as shown in Step (c); and an active layer isput down on the source and drain layer, wherein the active layercomprises functionalized SWNTs. These steps lead to the formation of5-stage ring oscillator 200 comprising layered elements 201. Those ofskill in the art will recognize that the other RFID tag components canbe fabricated (i.e., printed) in similar fashion.

Example 3 SWNT-Diode

We have developed A SWNT-diode to construct a rectifier for providing DCpower to a printed RFID tag. A SWNT-diode was prepared using the presentprinting method. First, an Au electrode was printed on a PET substrateusing Au ink and an inkjet printer. On the printed Au electrode, PEDOTwas printed on the pattern of printed Au. Selectively functionalizedSWNT ink to knock out metallic SWNT was then printed on the PEDOpatterns, and then finally a Ag electrode was printed on the SWNTpatterns using Ag ink. The resulting SWNT-Diode was characterized usinga semiconductor analyzer. The characteristics of the SWNT-diode areshown in FIG. 7.

Example 4 Prophetic Example—Rectifier

The present inventors contemplate the following example. A conventionalprinted 13.56 MHz antenna is coupled to have 4 V AC, and then rectifiedusing a SWNT-diode to give 2 V DC using a conventional rectifiercircuit.

Example 5 Dielectric Polymer Wrapped SWNT

Using SDS stabilized SWNT solution, we just added monomer such asstyrene and polymerized in situ using AIBN at 60° C. The resultingpolystyrene (PS) wrapped SWNT could be used directly as active ink toprint thin film transistor. A dielectric polymer wrapped SWNT is alsodescribed in Korean patent application No. 10-2006-0106023.

PS wrapped SWNT was characterized using TEM. 2 to 5 nm thick PS wascoated on SWNT, as illustrated by the TEM image shown in FIG. 8.

All patents and publications referenced herein are hereby incorporatedby reference. It will be understood that certain of the above-describedstructures, functions, and operations of the above-described embodimentsare not necessary to practice the present invention and are included inthe description simply for completeness of an exemplary embodiment orembodiments. In addition, it will be understood that specificstructures, functions, and operations set forth in the above-describedreferenced patents and publications can be practiced in conjunction withthe present invention, but they are not essential to its practice. It istherefore to be understood that the invention may be practiced otherwisethan as specifically described without actually departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

1. A process for making thin film (TF) electronic devices comprising thesteps of: using an ink jet printer mechanism to print electronic devicepatterns on a substrate as a composite ink mixture of metallic carbonnanotubes (m-NTs) and semiconductor carbon nanotubes (s-NTs), whereinthe m-NTs are active and dominate the characteristics of the compositeink mixture in any of the electronic device patterns designated as aconductor patterns; de-activating a portion of the m-NTs in any of theelectronic device patterns designated as resistive device patterns; andde-activating substantially all of the m-NTs in any of the electronicpatterns designated as semiconducting device patterns.
 2. The process ofclaim 1, wherein de-activating the m-NTs comprises chemically reactingthe m-NTs to inhibit or block their charge transport mechanism.
 3. Theprocess of claim 1, wherein the m-NTs in the electronic device patternsare de-activated in-situ.
 4. The process of claim 1, further comprisingthe steps of: drying an electronic device pattern forming a driedelectronic device layer; and washing the dried electronic device layerto remove any undesired residue.
 5. The process of claim 4, wherein alayer of the composite ink mixture is applied with the ink jet mechanismover a dried electronic device layer to enhance a characteristic of oneof the electronic device patterns.
 6. The process of claim 1 furthercomprising the step of applying a dielectric layer over one or more ofthe electronic device patterns.
 7. The process of claim 6, wherein thecomposite ink mixture forming one of the electronic device patterns isapplied over the dielectric layer.
 8. The process of claim 6, whereinthe dielectric layer is applied using a bar coating mechanism.
 9. Theprocess of claim 1, wherein the composite ink mixture of m-NTs and s-NTsis printed first to the electronic device pattern areas designated asthe semiconductor device patterns.
 10. The process of claim 1, whereinthe m-NTs and s-NTs are selected from the set of carbon nanotubesconsisting of single walled carbon nanotubes, multi-wall carbonnanotubes, double-wall carbon nanotubes, small-diameter carbonnanotubes, and any combinations of the aforementioned carbon nanotubes.11. The process of claim 10, wherein a diameter of the small-diametercarbon nanotubes is less than 3 nanometers.
 12. The process of claim 1,wherein the substrate comprises a flexible material selected from theset of materials consisting of polymers and papers.
 13. The process ofclaim 1, wherein the conductor patterns, the resistive device patterns,and the semiconducting device patterns are un-passivated.
 14. A thinfilm electronic circuit, comprising a circuit formed on a substrate tohave a pre-determined functionality requiring conductors interconnectinga plurality of resistive devices, capacitive devices, inductive devices,and active semiconductor devices, wherein the conductors, the resistivedevices, the capacitive devices, the inductive devices, and the activesemiconductor devices are formed at least in part by a processcomprising: using an ink jet printer mechanism to print electronicdevice patterns, on a substrate, as a composite ink mixture of metalliccarbon nanotubes (m-NTs) and semiconductor carbon nanotubes (s-NTs),wherein the m-NTs are active and dominate the characteristics of thecomposite ink mixture in any of the electronic device patternsdesignated as the conductors; de-activating a portion of the m-NTs ofthe composite ink mixture in any of the electronic device patternsdesignated as the resistive devices; and de-activating substantially allof the m-NTs of the composite ink mixture in any of the electronicpatterns designated as a semiconducting portion of the activesemiconductor devices.
 15. The thin film electronic circuit of claim 14further comprising the steps of: applying a dielectric layer over anelectronic device pattern after its m-NTs have been de-activated to apre-determined level; forming an electrode device pattern by printingthe composite ink mixture over the dielectric layer; and de-activatingthe electrode device pattern over the dielectric layer to form aconductor.
 16. The thin film electronic circuit of claim 15, wherein thedielectric layer forms a gate region of a thin film transistor (TFT) andthe electrode device pattern forms a gate electrode of the TFT.
 17. Thethin film electronic circuit of claim 15, wherein the dielectric layerforms a dielectric of a parallel plate capacitor and the electrodedevice pattern forms a plate of the parallel plate capacitor.
 18. Thethin film electronic circuit of claim 14, wherein a plurality of theactive semiconductor devices are interconnected with the conductors toform at least part of logic circuitry and analog circuitry.
 19. The thinfilm electronic circuit of claim 18, wherein the pre-determinedfunctionality is selected from the group consisting of a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) tag, electronic paper (e-paper), an organic lightemitting display, and a disposable cellular phone.